Victoria Cana lives a “slash” lifestyle.
While she’s a business analyst by day, Victoria spends her evenings and weekends as a career and lifestyle blogger. If she had it her way though, she’d be the protagonist of a novel, adventuring her way through New York, helping other people achieve their dreams.
Check out our interview with Victoria to discover some tips for maintaining the coveted work-life balance and how she found herself blogging in the first place. Don’t forget to read Victoria’s blog, Victoriously Yours, for everything from actionable career tips to the latest trends in beauty.
Describe yourself in 10 words or less.
Human Capital Analyst. Career and Lifestyle Blogger. Woman on the rise.
How do you go from consultant to blogger? Any tips for others who have the kind of “slash” personality and lifestyle?
It’s not easy having a side hustle, especially when you have a demanding full-time job. I manage these two worlds by staying organized and planning ahead. Running a blog is much easier when there is a plan in place and all you have to do is follow the instructions.
I also create realistic weekly and monthly goals. For example, every week I aim to write one post and promote it through various social media channels. Every month, I try to find a new opportunity to speak at an event or get featured online. The secrets to having a “slash” personality and lifestyle are staying committed and being flexible.
Why did you start blogging?
I used to blog a lot in high school, back when the Internet was viewed in part as an online diary. When I started college, I had to give up writing for leisure, but deep down I always knew I would come back to it.
Today, blogging is one of the primary ways to build a personal brand and expand career opportunities. After seeing a friend’s blog grow over the course of three years into a successful side hustle, I decided to get a domain, a website design, and an official logo. My thinking was that if I actually invest something in blogging I would have to commit, and it worked out. I take my blog very seriously now and hope to expand its scope and audience.
How do you unwind?
I am a huge advocate of work-life balance and overall wellness. The primary way I unwind is by going to the spa. I get monthly facials and massages, sometimes a mani/pedi if I don’t feel like doing it myself.
I also take naps. Lots of naps. The idea that the less sleep you get, the more hardworking and successful you are is silly in my opinion. Burnout is a huge problem in the workplace. I remind myself that life is a marathon, not a sprint in order to make decisions that will allow me to be healthy, happy, and successful in the long run.
Describe how you try to see the world from multiple perspectives. How do you achieve this? What kinds of activities help you see the world in new ways?
There are billions of people on this earth, each with their own backgrounds and unique ways of seeing the world. Rather than always asserting my views and my opinions, I come into situations with an open mind and a goal to understand others. Empathy is a great way to see a situation through a different lens. In addition to this, I also travel as much as I can. I have been to Spain, Mexico, France, Morocco, Japan, the Philippines, China, Greece. I’ve always been curious about other cultures, especially the ones drastically different than my own.
What do you love about writing?
Although my career is in the professional services industry, I am a very creative, imaginative person. When I was a kid, I would constantly play make-believe with my sister, using our stuffed animals and toys and cast members and props in our adventures. In ninth grade, I wrote a fantasy novel that was 200+ pages long. For fun. I have always felt like a natural storyteller, and writing is important to me because, unlike in real life, there are no limits. A blank page can become anything you want it to be, from a story about elves living in a castle in the sky, to a blog post about your favorite skincare products.
You have a stellar online presence – what do you do to create it?
I studied media and communications in college, so I have always seen the value of personal branding. Have you ever heard that saying, “If a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s around to hear it, does it make a sound?”. Or perhaps the modern version, “Pics or it didn’t happen?” When it comes to our personal brands, perception is reality.
Nowadays, who I am is in large part what shows up when you search my name on the Internet. That’s why I spend so much time building my online presence. I make sure that I’m on all relevant social media platforms, I blog, I write for other news sites, I participate in online communities. Having a stellar online presence allows me to develop my brand, elevate my career, and get access to new opportunities I would not have had otherwise.
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Zoë Björnson is an Editorial + Social Media Coordinator with about.me. She is a graduate of Tulane University. You can find her on Twitter @kzoeb.
nice and inspiring – regards
http://about.me/neerajkapoor
this is a fantastic story
You are beautiful as your blogs.